Sensacional! Mexican Street Graphics celebrates the vernacular design of the comic books, flyers, posters and signs common in Mexico, where a rough, idiosyncratic beauty arises from a mom-and-pop street economy. The artisans are the sign-painting, lithographic tradespeople who work off the high-art grid, and serve as de facto ad agencies for auto repair shops, food vendors, and wrestling events. Though these artists may not concern themselves with visual art trends, their work has enormous significance: in public environments increasingly monopolized by corporate controlled and mechanically produced imagery, these artists assert a brilliant graphic design presence that’s hand-made, individualistic, and defiantly human. Organized by Trilce Ediciones, an independent publishing house based in Mexico City.
Sensacional! Mexican Street Graphics
Nov 18, 2006–Mar 4, 2007
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
700 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 978-2787